679 Craven Coltal Candoam, C.
Craven Coltal Candoam is the current Patriarch and Conduit of Candoam. He is best known for the humiliating defeat of the Roaman Legions in Pricia at the hands of Osa Tusk and Inachiron in the year of the Consuls Amussal Voriel-Otibryal Juctor and Gibral Anyly Adesican. Coltal was ransomed back to Roam, given the moniker Craven and never again sought high office. He is the father of Curly Coltal Candoam Juctor, the current Governor of Scrutany whose military exploits against the Feors are the talk of Roam, but has distanced himself from his father's legacy. Ancestors As would be expected of a Patriarch, Coltal has an exceptional pedigree. Great-Grandparents Ten of twelve of Coltal's great-grandfathers were Consuls, and of his six great-grandmothers five were daughters of at least one Consul. Brutal Levyal Qualens-Levyal Juctor was the triumphant hero of the Neluntian War. Stooped Nusal Candoam was twice Consul and the triumphant hero of the Second Fuscrite War. Machyal Sarevir Colty was twice Dictator of Roam during the same war, and saved Roam during the Panth Insurrection. Old Tavengal Voriel-Otibryal Oscumy and Young Gibral Juctor were heroes of the Small War, the former sacrificing himself in battle to ensure victory for the latter, who is famous for having executed his own son Suckling Gibral Juctor for insubordination on the eve of the battle. Not all of his ancestors died in glory, however. Tight Pronimal Qualens Ossopy was one of the two Consuls (along with Tersal Juctor-Amussal Fural) ambushed during the Second Fuscrite War. Their deaths, and that of the majority of their legions, almost brought Roam to its knees. Grandparents Three of Coltal's four grandfathers were Consuls. Coltal Juctor served as Consul in the brief peace following the Small War. Old Ennal Candoam Juctor and Ambyal Sarevir Juctor served together as Consuls during the Second Fuscrite War, although Ennal fell victim to disease and died whilst raiding the northern front. Early Life (-82) Coltal's father Old Ennal Candoam Juctor was elected Consul during the Second Fuscrite War when Coltal was five years old, and then served as Captain of the Intrearian Well in Straecy for five years, taking his family with him. Largely ignorant of the war and political strife raging around him, Coltal enjoyed his time there with his sisters Pronimas, Haity, Glumas and Erinvy, and still has a favoured personal estate in the area. At age eleven, Coltal attended the state funeral of his great-grandfather Stooped Nusal Candoam, and the ceremonies confirming his father as the Patriarch of Candoam. It is the first time that he realised the importance of his family to Roaman society. Coltal's mother Coltal's Constrincy Juctor died in childbirth with his brother Ennal Candoam when Coltal was fourteen years old. The following year his father was again elected Consul, and Coltal's life in Roam began in earnest, although he is said resent his father for not allowing him time to truly grieve for his mother. First Marriage (-64) Coltal married Young Otibryal Juctor through Latavyal's Constrincy Juctor. Young Otibryal was thirty-seven years old, and Constrincy was fourteen. Young Otibryal's late father Old Otibryal Juctor Ossopy had been Consul and Dictator of Roam (although he had been tricked, defeated and killed during the darkest days of the Second Fuscrite War), and his half-father Squinty Parytal Juctor Adesican had also been Consul. Constrincy was not from a particularly prestigious line, but shared both of her husbands' love for Straecy. Officer (-63 to -59) At nineteen, Coltal was elected as an Officer and served for five years under Machyal Candoam in Nelunty, Grey Uvinal Candoam at the Deforite Well in Fuscry, and Amal Candoam Voriel at the Moverean Well in Oscumy. Two of his sisters, Erinvy and Pronimas died while he was away serving, and he was also away from Roam for the political turmoil surrounding the lynching of Vagal Oscumy. His father was elected Consul again in Coltal's final year of service. Inachironic War (-58) Coltal never fought on the front line of the war against Inachiron, but served Roam largely in administrative capacities in the city. Bursar, Administrator, Marshal and Patriarch (-53 to -44) Coltal's husband Young Otibryal died at age forty-four when Coltal was twenty-five. Despite several years of trying, Coltal and Constrincy could not conceive. At age twenty-nine, Coltal was elected as one of the Bursars of Roam during the Inachironic War, and proved himself adept at handling the city's financial affairs. As a Candoam, even under wartime pressures he promoted cultural events and spectacles that both impressed his peers and wowed the common people. At thirty-two, he was elected as one of the city's wartime Administrators on the back of his successful stint as Bursar (and his father's political successes), and was elected Marshal at thirty-six, presiding over legal cases with competence and compassion. Coltal's father Ennal died at age sixty-five when Coltal was thirty-eight years old, and the mantle of Patriarch of Candoam was bestowed upon Coltal, an office which he has held ever since. Divorce and Second Marriage (-43) Coltal appealed to the Senate for a divorce from his wife Constrincy on the grounds that she had passed childbearing age without bearing him a son. The Senate agreed, and he paid her the appropriate divorce fee. The separation was largely amicable, and Coltal remained on good terms with Constrincy until her death nearly twenty years later. The following year Coltal married Old Semural Juctor-Glumal Qualens through Lecarol's Amby Juctor. Semural was fifty-two, and had served ably as Consul during the Inachironic War. He was finishing up a posting as Captain of the Ruetian Well in Oscumy at the time. He had two sons, two half-sons and a half-daughter from a previous marriage, although his eldest son died shortly before the wedding at age thirty. Although both of Amby's fathers had died, Old Lecarol Juctor had served as Consul, and Young Scruval Sarevir Qualens had served as Governor of Oscumy. (She shared a mother with Moody Machyal Sarevir-Machyal Voriel, although he was not a prominent figure for a number of years). Three years later, Coltal had his first child, a son named Coltal Candoam Juctor, quickly nicknamed Curly for his thick, black curls. The boy's good nature and Coltal's pride drew the family together, and despite an age gap of more than twenty-five years, it seems that Coltal truly did fall in love with Amby, and became fast friends with Semural. His happiness was not to last, however. Semural died the following year at age fifty-six following a vicious fever, and war broke out in Crylalt. Crylaltian War (-37) Both Roamans and Naechisians thought that the war in Crylalt would be over by the harvest. Coltal made marriage arrangements in Roam without any special considerations, not expecting that war would consume the city for a generation. Third Marriage (-37) Coltal married Rheumy Renyal Voriel-Otibryal Juctor, five years his senior at forty-five. Renyal had served as Governor of Oscumy for the past ten years, and had a son and three daughters from a previous marriage. His union with Coltal allowed them to both make political gains, and raise the money for Renyal's vision of a Roaman fleet which would be necessary to pursue the war in Crylalt. Marshal (-36) Coltal's new husband Renyal was elected Consul on his platform of expanding Roam's naval capacity to match that of Naechis, which was blockading the seas around Delebram. Coltal was elected Marshal alongside his husband, and was part of the expeditionary force which managed to land in Crylalt and make peace with the Kingdom of Kyraspa, allowing for a Roaman foothold on the continent. Coltal led a force to pacify several small towns in north-eastern Crylalt. Seemingly satisfied with his contribution to the war, perhaps correctly predicting that glory would be particularly hard to come by in Crylalt or simply missing his son, Coltal returned to Roam for the next several years. He is known to have been quite affected by the death of his sister Glumas during this time. Consul (-33) Either the destruction of the Roaman fleet in a storm or the defeat of the Naechisians outside Oepheram by Hyberital Barbar Adesican and Machyal Sarevir Voriel seems to have inspired Coltal to return to Crylalt. He stood on a platform of rebuilding his husband's fleet, with the addition of the Spydoron Beak championed by Lecarol Voriel-Cuinsal, which would allow Roam to neutralise the experienced seamanship of the Naechisians. Coltal was elected alongside Paginal Qualens Sarevir, but disagreements between the two of them as to how to pursue the war led to a fairly underwhelming and unglorified campaign in northern Crylalt, slowly capturing towns with little booty or strategic advantage to offer. His husband Renyal was assigned by the Senate to the Pygran Well in Scrutany, hampering his efforts to have a fleet built before his term was up. Coltal did manage to secure the funds and have the fleet built, but it would be put to use by Lecarol Voriel-Cuinsal as Consul the following year, in the first naval victory in Roaman history. Fourth Marriage (-32) Coltal's return to Roam, if initially disappointing, was quickly to become devastating. He was no sooner shaken by the death of his sister Haity than his beloved wife Amby died in childbirth at age thirty-two with his half-son Caiacal Voriel-Otibryal Candoam. In keeping with Roaman tradition, despite his grief, Coltal married again within the year, re-affirming his alliance with Renyal through Tersas Juctor. Tersas was not from a particularly prestigious line of Juctors, and the perfunctory nature of their marriage, which persists to this day, stands in contrast to that of his marriage to Amby. A son was born to Coltal within the year, though his resemblance to Renyal earned him not only his name but eventually his nickname. Rheumy Renyal Candoam Voriel never seems to have earned the same love from his father as his elder brother Curly. Marshal, Conduit, Campaign in Pricia and Disgrace (-30) Whatever appeal that Roam had had following his return from his first term as Marshal just six years before had evidently waned. Coltal stood for election as Marshal, intending to serve under Hyberital Barbar Adesican in his Prician campaign. Despite having served as Marshal so recently, he was successful in his bid and left Roam immediately. Scalify erupted into the Provincial War only a few days afterwards. If he had hoped for glory in Pricia, he was likely disappointed. Barbar's systematic raiding strategy was intended to grind down Naechisian resistance largely by forcing its vassal states into surrender through starvation. Barbar was also preoccupied by the spiralling situation back in Scalify, and so had little time to fraternise with Coltal. After one campaign season, Barbar returned to Scalify to defend Roam, leaving his subordinates to squabble over relative ranks and strategies. Coltal and Gibral Anyly Adesican eventually asserted control over the legions and their rival commanders, but the flight of Barbar and the temporary relief from his strategy had allowed Naechis to regroup and rearm. Osa Tusk had assumed command of the army along with Inachiron, Roam's old enemy who had fled from Kyraspa in the early stages of the war. Tusk and Inachiron drew the Roamans, eager for a battle rather than petty raiding, into a battle on unfavourable ground at Sabas. Inachiron's expert use of elephants helped rout the Roaman legions. Seeing that the battle —''' and the campaign '''— was lost, Coltal surrendered. The Roaman Senate debated for three days as to whether Coltal's ransom should be paid, or whether he should be left as a prisoner of Naechis, and potentially tortured to death. The final vote was swung by the fact that Droning Ormanal Candoam Voriel had died shortly after Coltal had left Roam, officially making Coltal the Conduit of Candoam. Those opposed to the ransom, such as Young Sural Pavinny Ops, insisted that as he had not returned to Roam since the former Conduit's death and made the necessary sacrifices, that he had not been confirmed as Conduit, but they were unable to sway those in favour from potentially upsetting the gods. The ransom paid was enough to re-ignite the Naechisian war effort, supporting the hiring of mercenary forces from Issycria and beyond Meder and buying the loyalty of tribes in the Crylaltian interior. Coltal returned to Roam in disgrace, widely derided as craven for not taking his own life and thus costing Roam —''' already in a precarious position due to the revolts of the provinces '''— many of the gains that it had made over the past eight years. Recluse (-28) Understandably, in the face of widespread hostility, Coltal retreated from the public sphere, only attending the Senate or other ceremonies when his duties as Patriarch or Conduit were required. His second half son Blotchy Renyal Voriel-Otibryal Candoam, so named because of his red flushing cheeks, was born during this reclusive period. Coltal took no sides during the First Civil War following Hyberital Barbar Adesican's peace settlement at the end of the Provincial War, and did not take any part in the rest of the war in Crylalt. A string of family deaths restricted his social circle still further: his younger brothers Ennal and Pagnal and older sister Constrincy all died within the same year, and the following year saw his husband Renyal die at the age of sixty-five. Curly Coltal, now eighteen, married Grey Pampal Sarevir Qualens, a man only two years younger than Craven Coltal himself, through Pronimas Qualens, in one of the last marriages before the Senate put a moratorium on new unions at the outbreak of the Second Civil War. Pampal had been the Governor of Fuscry. Second Civil War and Machyal's Tyranny (-20) When Moody Machyal Sarevir-Machyal Voriel marched on Roam after bringing Naechis to surrender, Curly Coltal Candoam Juctor was serving as an Officer in his army, and continued to do so throughout the Second Civil War against Vulgar Renyal Sarevir Juctor and Amussal Barbar Gibruny. Neither of the Consuls attempted to move against Craven Coltal during the war, as acting against the Patriarch and Conduit of Candoam would have likely lost them popular support. Fifth Marriage If support for Machyal Sarevir had been a gamble for the Coltals Candoam, then it paid off. Craven Coltal, at the age of sixty-four, married Rash Donimal Sarevir, the newly appointed Governor of Crylalt, and promptly had a third half-son named Parytal Sarevir Candoam, securing an alliance with the new tyrants and largely sparing the Candoams from the worst of Machyal's Tyranny. Curly Coltal carried out his role as Officer in the tyrant Machyal's service, earning a reputation as a dependable operator who had no qualms about getting his hands dirty. He also gained a reputation as a gambler and a womaniser, leveraging his power to borrow money and coerce women. In the following years, Craven Coltal's sons Rheumy Renyal and Caiacal were elected as Officers and he had a half-daughter named Tersas. Renyal married fellow Officer Tantal Qualens-Donimal through Gagy Juctor and had a son, Coltal's first grandson, named Gigal Candoam Qualens. Bankrolled by Scruval Qualens, and downplaying any connection with his unpopular father, Curly Coltal was elected as Bursar. Home War (-10) During the Home War Coltal had a son and two half-sons serving as Officers against the rebellious slave armies of Trucidal. Blotchy Renyal married the Marshal Otibryal Sarevir Voriel through Gagy Qualens, daughter of the late Consul Gibral Qualens-Pagnal Juctor. In the next several years both Renyals provided Coltal with a number of grandchildren while his husband Donimal gave him a second half-daughter named Degnas. The war against Trucidal had its cost, however. Serving under Scruval Qualens in the (disputedly) final battle of the war, Coltal's half-son Caiacal was cut down from his horse. The following year, Curly Coltal's friends Scruval Qualens and Proud Machyal Sarevir-Machyal were elected together as Consuls. In a blatant transgression of the strict political ladder system established just ten years before by Proud Machyal's father, they had Curly Coltal appointed as Governor of Scrutany despite never having held an elected post higher than Bursar. Recent Events In the past several years both Rheumy Renyal and Blotchy Renyal have been elected to the position of Bursar, and furthermore Rheumy Renyal has been assigned as the Captain of the Intrearian Well. Curly Coltal has raised a private army and led it on expeditionary missions north against the Ferotic tribes that inhabit the forests and mountains there, in the name of protecting Roam's Scrutan allies. His self-aggrandising commentaries on his campaigns are immensely popular in Roam. Craven Coltal himself is very old and frail, and rarely ventures out of the Candoam Palace except for important state occasions. Rumours swirl intermittently that he has died, but he continues to confound the people's expectations. Personality and Traits Notable Relatives Category:Main Character Category:Character Category:Consul Category:Patriarch Category:Conduit Category:Candoam Category:Patriarch of Candoam Category:Conduit of Candoam Category:Living Person